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As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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10-09-2014, 05:30 PM
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#1
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PassPorter Guide
Community Rank: Globetrotter
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,041
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Feature Article: Worries About Taking a Disney Cruise - A Disney Cruise Line Review
Worries About Taking a Disney Cruise - A Disney Cruise Line Review
by Cheryl Pendry
Many people have worries about taking a Disney cruise, particularly if it's the first time they've ever taken to the water, but equally those concerns can creep in if it's your first cruise with Disney.
Having a few Disney cruises under our belt now, hopefully I can answer some of those thoughts, and reassure you. So eyes down ... here are the first five 1) What happens if I get seasick on my cruise? Trust me, this was a big one for me when we took our first cruise, as I get badly motion sick in the back seat of a car, so how would I fare on the water? Well, I'll be honest, for the first night, neither of us did too well, and it's worth knowing that you can be affected by the movement of the ship if you're coming out of Port Canaveral on that first night. From what the crew members told us, it was something to do with the waters meetings at the bottom of Florida, and that can result in some unpleasant side effects. I’m happy to report that, once that first night was done, we were fine for the rest of the cruise, and I suspect we were just getting our “sea legs."
Since then, we’ve only ever been affected when there have been really heavy seas, as on our inaugural Mediterranean cruise, and trust me, if you keep an ear out for the captain’s announcement, they will warn you if such a night is coming up. We were able to eat early, and head to bed before the worst of the weather struck one night, meaning our cruise was barely impacted.
If this is something that worries you, then definitely try out some solutions before you leave home. I tried Dramamine once on a whale watching cruise, and it knocked me out completely. Suffice to say I never saw any whales, as I was asleep! 2) There won’t be enough to do on board, especially on at sea days This was a real concern for us on our second Disney cruise. Having just done a three-night cruise before, heading out on an 11-night cruise around the Mediterranean was quite a departure for us. I didn’t know how I’d do with not going ashore every day, but like everyone I know, we came to love days at sea. They are literally packed with activities, if you want to take them up. Of course, you can just sit and relax, and do nothing if that takes your fancy, but never fear, one thing is certain – you won’t be bored.
3) I won’t see much of our ports of call if we only have a day there You certainly won’t be able to see and do everything in a day, that’s very true, but then again, isn’t that what we all say about the Disney theme parks? What a cruise does is offer you a taste of often-exotic ports of calls. Sometimes those tastes are enough for you to get a feel of the place, and that may be all you need. There are ports of call we’ve been to that, while we’ve enjoyed them, we had a taste of them, and felt no desire to go back. There are others that we adored, and our cruise stop acted as a starting point, with us making return visits to various cities, such as Florence and Sorrento in Italy, and Barcelona in Spain. For other ports, there may be no easy way to return, as they could be halfway across the world to where you live and, if that’s the case, isn’t a small taste better than none at all?
4) We can only afford an inside stateroom – will we still enjoy a cruise? Of course you will. If you’re fortunate enough to cruise on either the Disney Dream or the Disney Fantasy, you’ll have the bonus of a virtual porthole, which we loved when we had an inside stateroom. They’re a lot of fun to watch, and every so often a Disney character will pass by, so keep an eye out for that. At the end of the day, you only have to sleep in a stateroom, and you can always spend any down time during the day out on one of the ship’s public decks. Equally, you can head out to a public deck first thing in the morning, if you want to take in the view.
5) Someone in my party really doesn't want to dress up, so they’re dreading formal night. There are a couple of ways around this. Firstly, you can always take a shorter cruise. The three-night doesn’t have a formal night, and the four-night only has a “dress up” night. If you’re on a longer cruise, then you can still get food at the counter service restaurants or even room service, which saves you having to dress up. However, I can honestly say from having had a husband who wasn’t keen on dressing up, that once he did, he really enjoyed it. I can’t guarantee it will be the same result for everyone, but it is worth giving it a go, just to see if you can change those attitudes…
In a forthcoming article, I’ll be considering another five concerns voiced by cruisers, and if you have any others you’d like to see featured, please contact news@passporter.com with the details, and we’ll see if we can include yours.
Added to PassPorter's Article Collection on 10-07-2014 11:10 AM
What do you think? Please add your own comments, experiences, or news related to this article in this thread! Reader feedback is welcomed and encouraged.
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